MP3 In Ink Please & The Foliage - How to make better love
Two male-female duos that specialize in well-crafted, moody pop. The sorta stuff that makes for a nice, contemplative evening. (lo-fi, indie-pop)
10 MP3 Songs
POP: Folky Pop, ROCK: Acoustic
Details:
"This extremely clever split CD brings together two bands each consisting of one boy and one girl. And get this both from sunny North Dakota! The first band has more conventional indie-pop sounds, with well-written, catchy, fast-paced boy-girl rock gems, while the second takes a decidedly more experimental track, getting a lot more dreamy and abstract, with multi-layered vocal tracks and softer rhythms. A great split, and a wonderful effort by both." - IMPACT PRESS
How to Make Better Love showcases the two best male/female indie-pop duos in
North Dakota, hands down. Without a doubt.
"In Ink Please is up first with a handful of beautiful and melancholy songs. Vanessa Palmer has a strong and lovely voice, which is somehow complimented by guitarist Jerik Hendrickson''s flat backing vocals. Considering the lack
of instrumentation (Palmer rocks the Rhodes and a clarinet alongside Hendrickson''s solid guitar work), these songs are as sharp as tacks. Both "AQ75#3" and "The Kurdish Army" feature smart tempo changes and smarter lyrics -- poetic, but still pedestrian and accessible. That said, I can''t help thinking that In Ink Please would be far better off if they bit the bullet and hired a drummer. Their cover of Hum''s "The Very Old Man" is pretty freaking incredible, though.
Foliage (who, might I mention, are also a male/female two piece band from North Dakota) soften the edges sharpened by In Ink Please''s tight, fast pop songs. Marie Parker and Charlie Gokey approach their music from a much more mellow, meditative place. Their songs unfold slowly, uncovering layered vocal lines in tracks like "I''m Not Here Alone" that skirt dangerously close to Enya''s turf. With Foliage, you get the impression that their thin line up is more an issue of convenience than a testament to playing stripped down music. "Cadence Is a Sad Valley Girl" and "Leviathan" boast a sound so thick and absorbent that you''ll question their ability to pull it off live. However, studio albums and live performances are two different sports. In the category of the best indie songs recorded in a North Dakota two person relay, The Foliage win the gold. Or at least they share it."
-SPLENDID